W8

The Horex VR6 RoadsterHere again is a taste of motorcycle geek – trolling the patent filings in the motorcycle industry to find what manufacturers are working on. Yes, this does breed some very involved discussions once the information is released to the public, and most of that is pointless as only the people at the top of the company food chain know what is actually going to be manufactured. However, this research has proven prophetic more than once.

The Honda VFR1200F is a perfect example; patents filed by Honda provided information on some of the incredible technology with which that machine was built. Recently, we have even seen some patent information showing that Ducati may be taking their MotoGP-developed carbon fiber chassis technology to the street before long.

Reading through the information contained in these patents will give anyone some knowledge as to what the next big technological step could be from that marque. In that vein, there is a newly discovered innovation from the new Horex, which recently announced its return to production after being killed unceremoniously by Daimler-Benz in the early 1960’s, which should peak the interest of petrol-heads and moto-junkies everywhere.

Horex announced in the middle of 2010 that they were re-joining the motorcycle industry with a very narrow angle 1218cc V-6 based on the technology from the Volkswagen VR6 powerplant. The engine combines all six cylinders within a space only slightly larger than an inline four. The V-angle is a mere 15° and the pistons work in a staggered formation with the valves being acted upon by three camshafts.

That means that a chassis built around the engine only needs to beThe Horex W8 engine patent drawing slightly altered from a standard motorcycle frame. Additionally, the Horex lump is a supercharged engine producing some 200+ horsepower and over 110 lb/ft of torque. Thus, the engine provides V-6 power without the standard size limitations of the standard V-6. Now, imagine taking that innovation and applying it to the all-conquering V-8…well, Horex just might bring that concept into the physical world according to the patent filing for the VR6.

The Horex listing is an amazing piece of motor-head engineering geek which anyone interested in the future of motorcycle design should see. Their design calls for a double VR-type setup, placing two banks of the narrow-angle VR configuration on one case in what is known as a W arrangement.

This construction will allow for up to 12 cylinders to be fitted to the engine, if it it so desired. In its present form, the two VR cylinder banks are mounted at a 72° angle – basically, two VR4 configurations bolted to the same crankshaft. The current patent information uses a 1500cc W-8 as an example, and the drawings place it in the frame longitudinally – like Moto Guzzi – with the cylinder heads pointing outwards.

Bore and stroke are The Horex W8 mounted, in patent drawinglisted as 60.6mm and 65mm, respectively. Since it is only a drawing, there is no word on the materials to be used, the power it may make, or the details of how it will work – firing order, timing, etc. But, just having the concept out there and available is a big step for the rather small new company that is Horex.

The Horex VR6 Roadster is scheduled to be sold in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by the end of 2011; they even have a running prototype working currently. Within about a year of that release, the VR6 will finally be available throughout the remainder of Europe and the U.S. So, the W-8 concept will likely not see the light of day for some time. After all, the new Horex Motorcycles is just that, new, and they have to build their capacity before they can even think of manufacturing more than one model. But, if they do get to produce such an engine, we will be hearing a lot more from this returning German marque, and you will definitely want to pay close attention.